30,000 migrants with possible ties to terrorism or other ‘nefarious activity’ released into US: Report

More than 30,000 migrants with possible ties to terrorism or other “nefarious activity” were released into the United States in the last 15 months, according to data obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Customs and Border Protection data reviewed by the news outlet revealed that Border Patrol agents logged 20,287 encounters with special interest aliens in fiscal year 2023 and another 12,114 so far in fiscal year 2024.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Lexicon Terms and Definitions described SIAs as a “foreign national originating from a country (determined by individual Components) identified as having possible or established links to terrorism.”

A 2019 archived webpage from the DHS website explains that migrants could be labeled SIAs “based on an analysis of travel patterns” that are “known or evaluated to possibly have a nexus to terrorism.”

“This does not mean that all SIAs are ‘terrorists,’ but rather that the travel and behavior of such individuals indicates a possible nexus to nefarious activity (including terrorism) and, at a minimum, provides indicators that necessitate heightened screening and further investigation,” the DHS stated.

According to the agency, “SIAs are not simply people who ‘traveled from a country that had terrorism’” but those “who have obtained false documents, or used smugglers to evade security across multiple countries.” Additionally, some SIAs “have engaged in criminal activity that could pose a danger to the United States, and some are found to have links to terrorism after additional investigative work and analysis by CBP personnel.”

The over 30,000 SIAs allowed into the interior of the United States in the last 15 months were given future court dates, the internal CBP data obtained by the DCNF revealed. The data also found that SIA encounters at the southern border increased 600% from fiscal year 2021 to 2022.

The DCNF reported that the majority of the SIAs encountered in fiscal year 2023 were from Turkey, Russia, Afghanistan, and Somalia, the data showed. So far, the top nationalities of SIAs encountered in fiscal year 2024 include Turkey, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Russia.

In fiscal year 2023, 169 individuals on the FBI terror watch list attempted to cross the southern border, according to CBP reporting.

A DHS official called the increase in SIA encounters surprising.

“It worries me, depresses me, infuriates me, frustrates me,” the official told the DCNF.

The DHS did not respond to a request for comment, the DCNF reported.

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